


dragonfly, dragonfly

by dazedream



Category: Angelic Layer, CLAMP - Works
Genre: CLAMP Femslash Fest, Cute Kids, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-19
Updated: 2013-10-19
Packaged: 2017-12-29 21:36:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1010399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dazedream/pseuds/dazedream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The swingset groaned a little as Tamayo swung back and forth, feet kicking out and tucking back in with the movements of the swing. Misaki’s sweet, childish voice reached her ears as she soared up above the grassy ground of the playground. The other girl was pushing the roundabout round and round, but slowly, not in the all-out mad rush Tamayo preferred. She was taking careful skipping steps and singing a nursery rhyme to softly herself.</p><p>“Dragonfly, dragonfly,” she sang, “fly over the pool. Dragonfly, dragonfly, catch me a fool. Dragonfly, dragonfly…”</p><p>“Hey, Misakichi?” Tamayo called, dragging her feet on the ground to slow the swing. “Do you think we’re getting a little old for the playground?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	dragonfly, dragonfly

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this is fluffy enough? It certainly has no plot to make up for it if it doesn't.
> 
> Written for Day Three of the CLAMP Femslash Fest. Prompt: 'ice cream sundae'.

The swingset groaned a little as Tamayo swung back and forth, feet kicking out and tucking back in with the movements of the swing. Misaki’s sweet, childish voice reached her ears as she soared up above the grassy ground of the playground. The other girl was pushing the roundabout round and round, but slowly, not in the all-out mad rush Tamayo preferred. She was taking careful skipping steps and singing a nursery rhyme to softly herself.

“Dragonfly, dragonfly,” she sang, “fly over the pool. Dragonfly, dragonfly, catch me a fool. Dragonfly, dragonfly…”

“Hey, Misakichi?” Tamayo called, dragging her feet on the ground to slow the swing. “Do you think we’re getting a little old for the playground?”

“Hmm?” Misaki looked a little startled. “I don’t think you _can_ get too old for playgrounds. Until of course you get too big to fit on the seesaws and slides and stuff.”

“They should really make playgrounds for adults,” Tamayo agreed. The swing finally came to a stop and she hopped off, crossing over to Misaki’s side of the playground. The other girl stopped the roundabout and together they squatted down on it. Misaki was as small as ever, but Tamayo had recently had a growth spurt, shooting up until she was taller than Kotarou, and much taller than Misaki. Her long gangly legs stuck out of her Eriol Academy school skirt, splaying across the grass, the blades tickling against her bare skin.

A dreamy melody reached their ears like a siren song, and they bolted to their feet and sprinted in the direction of the song. It was a sunny Friday afternoon and most of the other children in the neighbourhood had already flocked to the ice cream van, and a queue had formed by the time the panting girls reached the kerb where it had parked. They scrounged in their pockets and came up with enough to cover the cost of their favourites, and when it was their turned to be served by the man Misaki ordered a lime-flavoured popsicle and Tamayo two scoops of soft-serve vanilla and one of strawberry, with goopy raspberry sauce trickled all over it and almond flakes sprinkled on top. They made their way back to the secluded park – it didn’t have as many attractions as the playground that had opened recently just a street away, and was thus less popular. The new playground was well-equipped with a shiny new jungle gym and swingset and far more. It had picnic tables and a basketball and a tennis court adjacent. It even had a miniature stadium in which people could play Angelic Layer, fresh from Piffle Princesses research labs. Misaki like to go there to practice with her friends and Hatoko, but she hadn’t felt like going without Kotarou today (he was away for the weekend at a karate competition) and Tamayo had wanted the fun of a playground without the usual ruckus of screaming children of all ages. It had been perfect.

The two girls sat by a small pond in the center of the playground, eating their sweet treats. It was the only thing in this old park that had not been recreated in the new – a grave oversight, in the eyes of both girls. The ducks had long since been taken away, even before the new park opened, when the owner of the playground had decided to install stepping stones into the pond. The stepping stones did not eat up stale crusts of bread thrown at them, but you could not hop from one duck to another, and that was more fun, so Tamayo decided the stepping stones could stay.

In the absence of the ducks, a family of dragonflies had colonised the pond, and they were far more beautiful than the clumsy yellow-feathered birds, so Tamayo didn’t mind them being here much either. Misaki _loved_ them, said she was thinking of redesigning Hikaru’s armour with the dragonflies gleaming armour-plates and silvery wings in mind. She and Icchan were working something out, between frequent visits to the training rooms and ever more competitions, but Misaki was sure it would be wonderful when finished. Tamayo hoped it would be, for that would be the first time she would be allowed to see it, Kotarou and Oujirou as well.

Misaki finished her popsicle (she had the teeth of a _shark_ , reducing innocent ice to half-melted slivers in mere minutes) and rose to put the wooden stick in the bin not too far away. That done, instead of returning to sit by Tamayo she moseyed towards the pond where the dragonflies hovered over the water, the shining sun rendering them almost uncomfortable to look at.

“Dragonfly, dragonfly,” Misaki called, running after them, “fly over the pool…” she stepped onto the first stepping stone, and carefully hopped to the next. Tamayo stuck another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, savouring the tart sweetness of the raspberry sauce and the slow-moving, honey-like texture it had against her tongue. She shuffled a little closer to the pond in case Misaki fell in; the water was shallow and Misaki perfect capable of paddling the two meters or so to the edge but it never did any damage to be careful. She crunched the almonds with her molars, feeling the relief of a gentle wind brushing against her skin against the warm late-afternoon sun, and, eyes closed, tipped her head back to feel it against her cheeks.

The ice cream was fisnished but there was still some sauce left, pooling in the edges of the cup. The sound her cheap plastic spoon made as it scraped over the bottom of the tub to catch the sauce startled the nearby dragonflies, who scattered in indignation.

Tamayo dumped the spoon and cup in the bin where Misaki had recently tossed her posicle stick, and strolled over to where her friend played, movements more careful and controlled than normal.

“HEEEEYYYY, Misakichi!” she cried to her friend, jumping up and down on the grassy bank. Used to her antics, Misaki only startled modestly, before half turning to her friend with a question on her lips. _Not so used to me she can’t predict_ this, Tamayo thought gleefully as she threw herself at Misaki, cannoning into the other girl and propelling them both into the water. Truly offended now, the dragonflies rose into the air and left, somewhat huffily. Tamayo knew they’d be back soon enough though, seeing as the pond was their home. She herself could not find much to complain about; the water refreshingly cool and a spluttering Misaki in her arms. She was half on top off her friend, and as the girl was much smaller than her she reluctantly pulled back to give her some air.

“Tamayo-chan!” Misaki cried, but she was shaking with too much laughter for her voice to sound even the slightest bit scolding.

Tamayo splashed her lightly. “Isn’t this lovely?” she sighed happily. “I _was_ feeling a bit too warm earlier…”

Misaki splashed back more ferociously, and they played in the water for a while, before it got to the time Tamayo’s parents and Misaki’s aunt would be worrying soon if they weren't home. Tamayo wasn’t quite done yet, though.

Feeling even more daring than usual, she pressed her lips to Misaki’s damp cheek, before hauling herself out of the water onto the bank and reaching down to help the smaller girl up. Misaki’s cheeks were red when she looked up and met Tamayo’s eyes, but she said nothing, leaving it to Tamayo to fill the silence with all the trouble she would get into with her mother when she saw how wet her daughter’s school uniform had gotten. She didn’t sound very contrite, though; looking back she would not change a single thing about that afternoon together at the old park. Well, maybe she might have tried to work up the courage to kiss Misaki sooner, but not everything goes the way we want it to all the time, and Misaki hadn’t objected and even seemed a little pleased, so she counted it a good solid win.

Tamayo was feeling positive as she waved goodbye to a still-blushing Misaki, positive and content. She would go home and be scolded by her mother, but tomorrow was Saturday – no school! – so there wouldn’t be much fuel or her mother’s anger. It would most likely be a few fleeting reprimands and at worst, she would be sent to bed early. Nothing to cause Tamayo regret, in the face of the afternoon she had had. She would go to sleep thinking about Misaki’s face as she kissed her, and as tomorrow was Saturday she would call Misaki in the morning to arrange something to do together. Maybe she would help her friend shop for groceries, or watch her and Hikaru practice playing Angelic Layer, or they could do homework together or go to the playground again. An amateur Angelic Layer tournament (that Misaki wasn’t participating in, being far from amateur) was happening at one of the local stadiums, and Misaki had always loved to watch. There was a new ice cream parlour that had opened only a couple of train stops away. It didn’t particularly matter; spending time together was the main objective, not what they ended up doing. No matter what they did tomorrow, though, Tamayo was definitely going to kiss her again.

Maybe this time Misaki would even kiss her back.

There were a hundred thousand possibilities floating in the air above her, or so it seemed, and half-asleep, Tamayo turned onto her side. Her left arm was flung away from her body and her fingers curled, as if in her very dreams she was seizing these possibilities with the same determined alacrity with which she approached everything in life. 

**Author's Note:**

> The nursery rhyme Misaki is singing is from Dragonfly by Julia Golding.


End file.
